Job retention bonus

Bonus payable to employer

The Job Retention Bonus is a £1,000 one-off taxable payment to you (the employer), for each eligible employee that you furloughed and kept continuously employed until 31 January 2021. The bonus can be claimed between the 15th February 2021 and 31st March 2021.

Eligibility

An employee must have received taxable pay in each of the three tax months:

  • 6 November – 5 December
  • 6 December – 5 January
  • 6 January –  5 February

And

  • The employee must have received at least £1,560 as taxable pay across those three tax months, any tax free allowance or adjustment as driven by their tax code is not deducted/added to the taxable pay.
  • The full payment submission for each of those three months has been sent under RTI to HMRC on time and is accurate.

Please be careful with the threshold amount, an employee may receive £2,500 taxable pay over the three month period but if they only worked two months from the three then they won’t receive the bonus. The employee must work in all three tax months.

Exclusions

An employee ceases to be eligible for the bonus scheme if:

  • The employer has repaid all CJRS grant claimed in respect of that employee.
  • They are not paid at least once in each of the three tax months.
  • Their total taxable pay does not reach £1,560 across the three months.
  • A leaving date has been reported on or before 31 January 2021.
  • They are placed on contractual or statutory notice of termination of their employment at any point before 31 January 2021.

Payment details

Your payroll agent  should be able to apply for the bonus on your behalf.

Taxable income

The bonus is recognised as other income for income tax or corporation tax purposes.